Press Release

Blackburn Acts to Block Obama’s Lawless Amnesty Program

Supports House Bill to Address Border Crisis

The House of Representatives today approved H.R. 5272, legislation authored by Congressman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to freeze the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and prohibit President Obama from taking future executive actions to expand amnesty for illegal aliens. The bill was approved by a vote of 216-192.

Congressman Blackburn’s legislation freezes the DACA program as of July 30, 2014 by prohibiting federal funds or resources from being used to adjudicate new applications under DACA. Blackburn’s bill also prohibits the Obama Administration from authorizing new deferred actions for any class of aliens and prevents authorization for work permits for aliens not lawfully present in the United States. This new language strengthens the original Blackburn-Cruz proposal by looking beyond the DACA program and ties the President’s hands on future executive actions.

“President Obama’s lawlessness, his executive actions and the overreach of federal agencies are the root cause of the current border crisis. That is why I worked tirelessly to craft this legislation to freeze DACA and prevent the President from circumventing Congress and granting blanket amnesty to the thousands of illegal immigrants who flood our nation’s border each year,” Blackburn said. “The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is at the root of this border crisis and my bill not only puts an end to this executive overreach, but it prohibits ANY executive action to grant deferred action or any new work authorizations to illegal aliens. My bill not only ends DACA, but also it would also prevent the Administration from trying to create a new ‘Son of DACA’ amnesty program by executive order.”

Blackburn also voted in support of the House proposal to secure the border by providing the Department of Homeland Security with the resources necessary to deal with border security and also increasing National Guard presence on the Southwest border solely at the discretion of border governors. In order to fund this effort to secure the border money would be reprogrammed from foreign aid, a proposal supported by Blackburn.

“This administration has shown an unrelenting desire to circumvent Congress and ignore our nation’s laws,” said Blackburn.“It is imperative that Congress takes action to address this administration’s failed border policies. While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is on vacation, the House is working on behalf of our constituents to pass more solutions for America. It’s time for the Senate to end their summer vacation and get back to work considering these bills to fix the crisis on the border.”